topic The dreaded EE text regarding the imminent theft of balance and number. in Pay as you go

The dreaded EE text regarding the imminent theft of balance and number.

Gizepi64 — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 08:57:35 GMT

Once again, through the utter arrogance and thievery that EE and owners BT are, they have sent me the text falsely claiming that my SIM has been inactive for 160 days and reminding me that I will lose my service, remaining credit and number if I don't "spend" something. So, for their information, because I know they read these, my SIM HAS BEEN ACTIVE in SLOT 2 of my phone constantly and consistenly enough for them to track my whereabouts for the police if necessary. They have repeatedly sent me texts to buy data if I want to use data. My number has been MY NUMBER since the late 80's and, IT WILL REMAIN MY NUMBER EVEN IF I HAVE TO TAKE IT TO COURT. It's the only number my elderly mother knows by heart and it it the number she contacts me on. Now whenEE andBT get over their overly inflated importance and authority, and BACK THE HELL DOWN, we'll get on much better. The switch can be flipped to stop contacting me regarding this issue and NOBODY HAS THE RIGHT TO DICTATE THAT I SPEND MORE MONEY WITH THEM.

Re: The dreaded EE text regarding the imminent theft of balance and number.

garybs29 — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 09:13:32 GMT

Having it turned on is not a chargeable use. You agree to the t&c's of chargeable usage every so often otherwise the number (which btw is not legally yours you have a right of use) is at risk of being lost

Re: The dreaded EE text regarding the imminent theft of balance and number.

XRaySpeX — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 09:39:02 GMT

How's it been active? Just sitting in the SIM slot of a phone isn't active! You have to use it for chargeable actions.

Sounds like your PAYG SIM may be going into hibernation due to non-use. When it does topping-up would be too late.

When did you previously make a chargeable action? EE PAYG SIMs are deactivated after 6 months of non-chargeable use. You then have a further 3 months period of grace to call EE to reactivate it before it is lost completely.

You needed to make a chargeable action like making a chargeable call or text, topping up or buying a Pack or Add-on, not just using your mins, texts or data from your pack.

Re: The dreaded EE text regarding the imminent theft of balance and number.

Chris_B — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 12:17:34 GMT

@Gizepi64you’re number isn’t personal property you have the right to use it provided you actually use it.

Re: The dreaded EE text regarding the imminent theft of balance and number.

Ali_A — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 12:22:40 GMT

Hi @Gizepi64

Welcome to the EE Community.

As @XRaySpeX mentioned, when a PayG SIM hasn't been used your phone for any chargeable activity for 179 days then the account will go into hibernation and any credit will be removed.
After a further 90 days the service will be permanently cancelled and cannot be reactivated.

What counts as using my phone?

To keep your account active, you can do any of these:

make an outbound call that connects
send a text or picture message
listen to your voicemail
use mobile data (i.e. watch videos or browse online)
top up your credit
buy a plan or add-on

You can do these in the UK or abroad.

Find out more, along with the Terms & Conditions, on our Pay as you Go hibernation page

Ali